1848.] The most ancient Grammar of the Vedas. 15 



of the appearance of a large number of those teachers in the Upani- 

 shads, Vrihad Aranyaka and Aitareya Aranyaka, there is no doubt 

 that these books belong to a later period of literature. 



The number of Grammarians, whose opinions are preserved to us in 

 the Praticakhya, already shows how far this art had spread, and Yaska 

 (Nir. II. 2.) confirms this in a remarkable statement, according to which 

 verbal roots are marked grammatically, in four different ways by the 

 grammarians of four different countries. These four tribes are, besides 

 the Pracya and Udicya, also the Kambogaand Arya. Hence it is proved 

 most irrefutably that the Kamboga were not only an originally Indian 

 nation, but also a nation of Indian civilization, so that this civilization 

 reached as far as the Hindu Kush at the time of Yaska. If we turn up 

 the well known passage of Mann's laws (X. 43,) we will find that they 

 were afterwards reckoned to be barbarians, because their manners became 

 afterwards changed, and they were justly called Indians by the Greeks 

 and Chinese. The same therefore happened to the Kombagas although in 

 a less marked manner, which took place among the Zend-people and the 

 Indians at a more remote period. 



In order to give a proof of the various grammatical matter which is 

 treated in the Pratigakhyas, I would have preferred the chapter concern- 

 ing the accent for which we expect the most abounding and complete 

 material here, as in the most ancient grammar which at the same time 

 especially treats on Vedaic writings ; the difficulty of printing it 

 however, rendered more unbearable by being printed in Roman charac- 

 ters owing to the great number of accentuations, causes me to reserve 

 this for a later and more circumstantial work. Instead of this we will 

 speak of the doctrine of the Anusvara, which contains also something 

 peculiar to the Vedas, and also of the Pdtha of the Veda. 



On the Anusvara. 



The most remarkable mode in the first and second Pratigakhya, 

 in distinguishing the nasal sounds is that 



1 . All colored (rakta) or nasal sounds are called Jnundsi/ca, com- 

 prehending the last of the five Vargas, the Yamas and the Anusvdras. 



2. Only the five nasals of Varga are called Ndsikya. 



3. Those nasals which are not Ndsikya and not Jama are called 

 Anusvdra. 



